Man Faces Prosecution for Taking Daughter to Church

February 11, 2010

Author: Jackie Walker

Source: The Houston Chronicle/Religion News Service

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/life/religion/6863014.html

A Chicago man could face prosecution for violating a restraining order by taking his 3-year-old daughter to church.

Joseph Reyes, 35, converted from Catholicism to Judaism when he married his wife, Rebecca. According to Rebecca Reyes, they agreed to raise their daughter Jewish. But when the couple filed for divorce, Joseph baptized his daughter as a Catholic without his estranged wife's consent.

Following the baptism, Rebecca Reyes filed a petiti on for a restraining order to keep Joseph Reyes from exposing their daughter Ela, 3, to any religion other than Judaism. A judge granted the order last December, barring Joseph Reyes from taking his daughter to church until a trial judge could determine his rights. An appellate court upheld the decision.